WWE SummerSlam: Ranking every main event in history

10. SummerSlam 1996: Shawn Michaels vs. Vader

There was a lot happening at the main event of the 1996 edition of SummerSlam as Vader battled Shawn Michaels for the World Wrestling Federation title. I think a lot of people sometimes forget how agile Vader was for his size and this was a different type of big man vs. little man type of match. Vader would impose his size advantage at times but Michaels would fight toe-to-toe with him while Vader could also play Michaels’ speed game and despite the false finishes, this was a fun match to watch and the three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion’s best shot at winning WWF gold.

The pace of this match was pretty solid from start to finish. Sure, there were the punches and kicks and such but they got after it the majority of the match. Shawn showed why he was arguably the best ever in the ring — I mean, minus the spot where he kicked Vader in the head a few times and screamed at him for not being in the right position for the top-rope elbow — and Vader certainly dished out his fair share of punishment. It’s a match like this where it’s not a wonder why Shawn’s back ended up in the shape that it did.

The first false finish came as a countout win for Vader after he dropped HBK on the guardrail. However, Jim Cornette, knowing that his man couldn’t win the title that way, wanted a restart and so they went back at it. A few minutes later, Michaels grabbed Cornette’s tennis racket and beat the tar out of both of them with it, causing a disqualification win for Vader. Again, the match was restarted and after a great sequence in which both kicked out of one another’s finisher, Vader missed a moonsault (crazy spot for him to do) and HBK hit one to pick up the win.

Word has always been that Vader was supposed to win the title here but Shawn didn’t like it, which is what led to Vader technically winning a couple of times in the match but not the title. Vader got another title shot against The Undertaker the following year but this was as close as he was ever going to get to the belt and he was out of the company just a couple of years later.